He was breathing queerly and was unconscious.
He was put to bed and tended by the Chaplain, who knew something of medicine;
and Lispeth waited outside the door in case she could be useful. She explained
to the Chaplain that this was the man she meant to marry; and the Chaplain and
his wife lectured her severely on the impropriety of her conduct. Lispeth
listened quietly, and repeated her first proposition. It takes a great deal of
Christianity to wipe out uncivilized Eastern instincts, such as falling in
love at first sight. Lispeth, having found the man she worshipped, did not see
why she should keep silent as to her choice. She had no intention of being
sent away, either. She was going to nurse that Englishman until he was well
enough to marry her. This was her little programme.
After a fortnight of slight fever and inflammation, the Englishman recovered
coherence and thanked the Chaplain and his wife, and Lispeth--especially
Lispeth--for their kindness. He was a traveller in the East, he said--they
never talked about "globe-trotters" in those days, when the P. & O. fleet was
young and small--and had come from Dehra Dun to hunt for plants and
butterflies among the Simla hills. No one at Simla, therefore, knew anything
about him.
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